Affordable Housing

"Collaborate with partners to increase the amount of available affordable and workforce housing, and to combat homelessness."Policy 4.2.E of the 2015 Comprehensive Plan

Asheville Regional Housing Consortium

The Asheville Regional Housing Consortium is a four-county consortium, consisting of Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania and Madison Counties, that distributes HOME funds to projects in the region through competitive application processes. The City of Asheville is the lead entity for the consortium and administers the HOME funds for the area.

More information about the HOME program can be found on the City of Asheville's Home Investment Partnerships Program website.

Area Income Levels

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines “affordable housing” as housing that costs no more than 30% of a household’s monthly gross income, including utilities. When families or individuals spend more than 30% of their income on housing they may not be able to meet other basic needs such as food, clothing and medical insurance.

The 2016 area median income for a family in Transylvania County is $53,100. According to HUD, a family is simply one or more individuals who live together. Members of the family do not need to be related by blood, marriage or in any other legal capacity. HUD’s definition of income levels can be seen in the table below. HUD also defines fair market rent for an area. For a two-bedroom unit, the fair market rent for Transylvania County is $650. A low-income family would have to spend at least 59% of their monthly income for housing at fair market cost, instead of the suggested 30%, to be able to afford a two-bedroom unit in Transylvania County.

Income Definition

Percent of Area Median Income ($53,100)

Annual Income

Monthly Income

30% of Monthly Income

Fair Market Rent as a % of Maximum Affordable Rent (2 Bedroom)

Low

Greater than 50 - 80

$26,550 - $42,480

$2,213 - $3,540

$664 - $1,062

98% - 62%

Very Low

Greater than 30 - 50

$15,930 - $26,550

$1,328 - $2,213

$399 - $664

163% - 98%

Extremely Low

0 - 30

$0 - $15,930

$0 - $1,328

$0 - $399

163% or more

Find Housing

Searching for housing? Try NCHousingSearch.org, a completely free service to list and search for rentals. List your properties or search for a place to live. Call 1-877-428-8844 for toll-free, bilingual assistance.